Alex Lifeson’s post-Rush band Envy Of None recently made a welcome return with their second album, Stygian Wavz. Lifeson and ex Coney Hatch bassist Andy Curran invite Prog for a dip in their dark progressive-pop waters, where they discuss finding their feet, welcoming the muse and embracing a set of very different musical challenges.
Alex Lifeson’s eyes are sparkling with pride, and they’re matched by a smile so warm that it could melt the snow piled up outside his home studio in Toronto, from where he speaks. Hanging on the wall are just a small selection of the guitars with which he made his name, and in his hand is a steaming mug of coffee that befits this mid-morning hour.
Right now, he’s recalling the tipping point when Envy Of None – the electronica- industrial- influenced outfit featuring vocalist Maiah Wynne, ex Coney Hatch bassist Andy Curran and second multi-instrumentalist Alfio Annibalini – went from being a project to a band.
“The first time I listened to the whole of Stygian Wavz mastered, I thought, ‘Goddammit, we’re a band; a good band!’” Lifeson says. “The first album was a project to me, but with Stygian Wavz, there’s something about it. I guess it was the way we worked; we were more connected and I was happy with that.”
For Curran, the confirmed change in woring status came through a moment of levity. “I secretly asked graphic artist Brian Walsby to draw us as Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds,” he says. “I showed them this poster that said, ‘Envy Of None Are Go!’ Alex said, ‘That should be the album cover!’ and that was when I knew we were a band.”
Should anybody still be in any doubt over their sincerity, Lifeson stresses that he’s experiencing the same level of excitement over the release of Stygian Wavz as he has at any point since Rush released their self-titled debut album back in 1974. “We’re so excited,” he says. “It’s been a year and a half of our lives working on this record from the spring of 2023.”
“And you still get that thrill hearing it on the radio,” adds Curran.
It’s difficult not to share their fervour; the record is infused with a sense of urgency, immediacy and accessibility that takes their music several strides forward with a confidence that oozes from its pores. As heralded by the singles that preceded its release – the filthy electro groove of Not Dead Yet and the textured pop-rock of Under The Stars – the album finds Envy Of None painting from a broader palette with bolder brush strokes.
Lifeson says there was never any doubt that a second record would happen. “We started maybe a half hour after we released the first album! We had bits and pieces floating around; more material started to flow in, and that was the seed point. It really was a concerted effort on all our parts.”
Following a steady exchange of ideas and working up bed tracks, they properly hit their stride in the summer of 2024. Such was the level of commitment that they jettisoned their original modus operandi of layering up the music via remote recording, and actually convened in a studio to work face-to-face. But they lasted just seven days before reverting.
“I think we were far more efficient working individually in our studios,” says Curran. “Maiah didn’t have three guys pumping opinions into her while she was recording. That’s what we enjoy about working individually – there’s no one piping in our ears. I got the impression she was much happier working on her own.”
Lifeson agrees. “I think there’s a vibe when you’re in the room together, but as Andy says, it’s difficult not to get distracted by the comments and activity. Everybody gets excited and has an idea of what to throw in the pot. I totally get that – with Rush we were all super-active in all our parts.
This snowball effect is brilliant with all these ideas developing and barrelling forward
“But I find that when I’m working at home in this great little studio of mine, I’m not distracted and I dive into it. If I don’t like it, I can delete it and start over again. I get into a flow; it’s more efficient and I work quicker. I think we’re all skilled enough to work alone and submit our parts, while everybody gets it and everybody feels it. We keep building a pyramid by sending back files.”
Lifeson believes remote working frees Wynne to experiment with any number of vocal melodies and harmonies, which inspire the guitarist to come up with new ideas that in turn inspire her further. Think of it as musical tennis.
“Often I’d do a scratch guitar on something that Andy and Alf sent, and send that to Maiah,” says Lifeson. “She’d do a basic scratch vocal and that would come back to me. I’d get so much information from her vocal and, because she’s a fucking genius, I’d get inspired to go to other places with my guitar parts. This snowball effect is brilliant with all these ideas developing and barrelling forward.”
He goes on to praise the singer’s contribution, role and development within the band. “Maiah is the centre of Envy Of None; we surround her. Her vocal arrangements are the centre of what it is. It’s important not to step in it. I’m serving the song; that’s who I am and who I want to be. It’s different for me now and I embrace and absolutely adore that.
“Musically, she’s my muse. She thinks about music very similarly to the way I do. We’re really connected despite the 50-year-or-so age difference; we really do walk the same path. And when we trade back and forth, quite often the result is a dance that we do between the guitar parts and the vocal parts.
I think Rush wrote some great songs and we wrote some crazy songs and maybe a couple of duffers
“From the personal end, I see a lot of growth in Maiah. We started working with her when she was 19 and we’ve had a really cool era with her as she’s grown as a vocalist and as a person.”
One cynical view of an established musicians’ side-projects is that it serves as an ego massage or a vehicle for music that was laughed out of the day-job studio. Although they’ve just released the career-spanning Rush 50, Lifeson is no longer bound by his former band – the only group he’d ever played in bar a few guest slots. That offers him a whole new musical route to explore.
Crucially, Envy Of None make absolutely no reference to either Rush or Coney Hatch. This is music that’s made on its own terms to stand on its own legs. None of the band would have it any other way.
“I’m super-proud of my past and everything that Rush accomplished,” states Lifeson. “I think we wrote some great songs and we wrote some crazy songs and maybe a couple of duffers, but it’s what I did and I’ve sort of moved on. I’m so happy and excited with my life now as one of the folks in Envy Of None.”
Stygian Wavz features more guitar solos in comparison to its predecessor – and that’s partly because Lifeson’s initial trepidation in how to approach them turned into a pleasurable experience.
I didn’t want it to be too Alex Lifeson-like… I have to step back and celebrate the amazing vocalist in this band
“I didn’t want it to be too Alex Lifeson-like,” he says. “Solos, for me, have never been this flashy thing; solos are an integral part of a song. I like to think that my solos connect very closely with what the song is about. It’s part of the main body of the song and it doesn’t stand out as this singular moment.”
So was he challenging himself? “Absolutely! I have to be more delicate at times; and I have to step back and acknowledge and celebrate the amazing vocalist in this band.”
Curren elaborates: “In the early stages of songwriting when we’re throwing around ideas I watch the song develop. The solos Alex has added usually come after Maiah’s scratch vocals, where it feels like it needs to go somewhere. The solo punctuates the song and it’s right there. I don’t ever get the impression that Alex has popped something in so that he could shred or show off. It’s always about the song and taking it to a level.”
He adds: “The courtesy that we show each other and the amount of rope we give each other is great. I’ve been in bands where there’s been a lot of turmoil and turf wars – there’s nothing bad in Envy Of None.”
Surely, with the band sparking off each other, and with two albums and an EP under their collective belt, Envy Of None must be itching to play live? “We would love to,” Lifeson replies. “It would really be a great show with the right lighting, adding more musicians for a live presentation. Playing these songs live with Maiah as the focus would be really fabulous.”
But caveats apply: “Everybody is busy; everybody’s got stuff and it’s difficult for me to plan something like that. I wouldn’t write the idea off – it’s a possibility if all things can align.”
But one thing that can be counted on is another album. Right? “Oh, I think we have a few ideas left over from the last one,” says Lifeson with a broad grin, his eyes sparkling once more.
